Welcome to Wine Matchmaker. The service that matches Wine to Food and People. I recently traveled to the USA with QANTAS and was fortunate enough to travel Business Class using some points I had. This gave me the opportunity to sample the extensive Wine list that QANTAS provides to it’s Business and First Class passengers.
The first two wines I tried were the Howard Park 2011 Miamup Sauvignon Blanc and 2010 Chardonnay. Both of these wines come from Margaret River (Western Australia) and I have to be honest that I am not a great fan of the styles of wines coming from that region. You have to be concerned when a wine notes for the Sauvignon Blanc state “The texture is intriguing…”. It doesn’t have the classic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Gooseberry and cats piss (sic) nor the restrained style of a French Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc). I found it unbalanced and lacking in fruit both on the nose and palate, generally disappointing. The Chardonnay was a bit better with more fruit weight but I felt the slight oak wasn’t at all integrated and there was quite a bit of acid on the finish.
The next two wines were the 2010 Swings & Roundabouts Cabernet Merlot from the Margaret River and the 2010 Glaetzer Bishop Shiraz from the Barossa (South Australia). I was expecting a lot from the Cabernet Merlot and although it delivered some dark berry fruits with a hint of chocolate (cocoa) this medium bodied wine needs at least 5 years before it starts to soften and the full fruit flavours start to come through. The Shiraz didn’t disappoint showing lovely restrained dark berries and plum and a hint of chocolate. This was the pick of the 4 wines but will need 5 to 10 years to really show how full and luscious it can be. I understand the 2010 is more restrained than the 2009 and I would love to try to 2009 to compare.
I got talking to the Flight Attendant (Koa) about my love for wine (and our shared New Zealand heritage) and she very kindly offered to bring me up samples of the wines from First class.
The first three samples to arrive were white wines: 2011 Bay of Fires (Tasmania) Sauvignon Blanc, 2010 Frankland Estate (Western Australia) Isolation Ridge Riesling and the 2009 Picardy (Western Australia) Chardonnay. The Sauvignon Blanc was a lovely example of the cool climate style with a restrained nose but a big palate bursting with Lychees and a soft balanced finish. A perfect example of how Sauvignon Blanc can look with skilful handling. The Riesling was as close to perfection as a young Riesling can get with the beginnings of Rancio (Kerosene) on the nose, Lemon Sherbet and Lime on the palate and a steely acid finish. It will easily go for 5 to 10 years and develop quietly along the way. The Chardonnay was a great example of the modern style with stone fruit and grapefruit on the palate and a hint of well integrated oak. I suspect there has been come Malolatic fermentation as there was a nicely balanced hint of butterscotch. A great wine for the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) crowd to showcase how far Chardonnay has come over the last 10 years.
The last three samples were the red wines: 2009 Yabby Lake (Mornington Perninsula) Pinot Noir, 2004 Yarra Yering (Yarra Valley) Dry Red No1 and the 2010 Glaetzer Amon RA (Barossa Valley). I have had the Yabby Lake a few times recently and not sure how it made it to the First Class wine list. At best it is a good Pinot and the almost 4 years of Age have helped to soften the tannins but the bright cherry fruit only has hints of the aged Pinot Noir characteristics of smoke and gaminess I prize highly. A Central Otago (New Zealand) or even Tasmanian Pinot Noir would have been more fitting for this list. The Yarra Yerring was showing beautiful bottle age with soft balanced dark fruit and well integrated tannins although I couldn’t get over the slight cork taint that kept on rearing it’s head. I am particularly sensitive to it and maybe it wasn’t a problem but it did detract from what is a lovely wine. The Amon RA is a wine I have been wanting to try for many years now and I wasn’t disappointed. It was big and luscious with dark berry, stewed plum and a hint of spice on the palate. The finish was soft and lingering which says alot for the wine maker that can take a big powerful wine and turn it into liquid velvet at such a young age. The wine was a stunner and a great way to end the night.
Well, sort of end the night because I did finish off with a port with my cheese plate. I had a glass of the Seppeltsfield Para Grand Tawny Port from Barossa. I have been to the winery and see their maturation rooms based around the Solera system for aging wine and was very much looking forward to this. It didn’t disappoint with raisin and butterscotch on the palette and a clean spirit that didn’t burn on the finish. It went beautifully with the blue cheese.
People often ask me how I can drink so much on Aeroplanes, the simple answer is pace yourself and hydration. All pours were quite small (less than a standard drink) and I was eating and drinking copious amounts of water throughout. It is very easy to become intoxicated on Aeroplanes due to the low humidity in the cabins so take it easy, I am a professional.
I hope you enjoyed my in-flight wine tasting as much as I did and in the meantime…drink some wine.